Alexander Kristoff’s last words before taking the start of the Tour of Flanders were to prove oddly prescient. “I don’t have to attack today, but sometimes attack is the best form of defence,” he told reporters, a rare moment of insight amid the nervous sound bites as riders descended from the signing podium in the shadow of Bruges’ belfry.
The Norwegian arrived at the Ronde on the back of claiming three stages wins and the general classification at the Three Days of De Panne, and – defeat at Milan-San Remo notwithstanding – the consensus was that he would prove all but unbeatable in the event of a sizeable group sprint.
Deducing that nobody was going to give him a free ride all the way to Oudenaarde, Kristoff decided to get his retaliation in first over the top of the Kruisberg, tracking Niki Terpstra (Etixx-QuickStep) when he clipped off with almost 28 kilometres still to race.
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“It was a little bit early but I didn’t want to let him go away because I thought: ‘Who was going to close it?’” Kristoff explained. Initially, he seemed to struggle to follow Terpstra, before his diesel engine kicked into action ahead of the Oude Kwaremont. By the final ascent, the Paterberg, Kristoff was even confident enough to hit the front at a pace Terpstra could follow but not surpass.
“He was really strong on the start and we got a good gap, but then I managed to find the rhythm and I could contribute,” Kristoff said.
“In the finale he was told on the radio that he was not to work with me but I told him, ‘Come on, you’ll get second at worst and that’s still a good result.”
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